The owner of a printing house accused of infringing on the copyright of an author who contracted him was slapped with $12,500 in fines and damages by Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday.

Presiding judge Kor Vandy said printer Trin Long, 42, was to be fined 10 million riel ($2,500), and ordered to pay $10,000 in compensation to plaintiff En Yoeun, 43, a writer and official with the Council of Ministers who had accused Long of printing extra, unauthorised copies of three different civics-related schoolbooks and reselling them at a steep discount.

Despite the finding in his favour, Yoeun yesterday criticised the court’s decision for its lack of jail time as well as for including compensation that was “far away from [addressing] the scope of my damages”.

At trial, Long acknowledged printing an extra 100 copies of each book in case of defects and to use as samples, but maintained he hadn’t resold any.